Weird Science
You get into the science centre and find more than you bargained for. Cast * Sam Yao * Janine De Luca * Shona * Frances Dempsey Plot If We Are Swift You, Sam, Shona and Janine arrive on Dearg Island, the science base of the Far Hebrides, to find out why Dearg scientists were collecting fungal seeds before the apocalypse and hopefully get help with the cure. The automatic laser turrets at the centre of the island start shooting at you, so you must move quickly to avoid them. Toward the Obelisk Janine realises the lasers have been upgraded to target humans, not just shamblers, so you must weave if you want to avoid being hit! You must run to the obelisk-shaped door to get into the base. Burn Your Flesh You're let into the building by Frances, the sister of the old Runner 5, Alice. She informs you that no one is allowed in or out and you shouldn't have come. Sterilising fluid that will burn your flesh starts pouring out of the ceiling vents, and you need to run! Hundreds of Them You get behind a fire door, and Frances latches it for you. She reveals she's read Alice's diaries, and Alice wrote things about Sam in there. He's clearly uncomfortable about that. But before it can be discussed further, Shona notices yellow cockroaches, engineered to eat human flesh, are swarming on your location. Time to run! Head Start As you hot foot it away from the bugs, Frances tells you that there is only she and a scant few grad students left -- there's no hope of finding Janine's cure here. She sends you down a stairwell to escape from the bugs. Flying Debris Frances instructs you to set a C4 explosive on the ceiling; this will release the sterilisation fluid and kill the bugs. But you'll need to run before it explodes to ensure you don't get burnt alive! Riddled With Red Fungus You get inside a control room, but you also find out the truth of why no one can leave or enter the science centre. The red fungus originated here, and got into the water source. They'll try to help cure it, but no one is an expert here. Worse yet, everyone in the centre is infected, including Frances. S08E18 // Rofflenet Discussion regarding this mission can be found on Rofflenet Transcript SAM YAO: Okay, Five. We’ve arrived. Dearg Island. Home of the mysterious Far Hebrides science base. There’s not much room in this automated boat, is there? Let’s get out from under this tarpaulin. rustles Yep. Dearg Beach. Pebbles, rocks, signs pointing to Van Ark’s labs. Janine and Shona are coming out of the sea, moving pretty quick in all that scuba gear. Shame there wasn’t space for all of us in the auto boat. Here’s Janine. JANINE DE LUCA: Keep low, Miss Reid. A minimal profile will delay the local defense’s detection of us. SAM YAO: Janine, how are you doing? Was the, uh, was the swim okay? JANINE DE LUCA: Mr. Yao, this is a good day. I intend to use all my good days. Dr. Cohen authorized the trip. We must enter the base. Before the apocalypse, scientists from Dearg collected fungal seed pods from Mor Island. We need to understand why. SAM YAO: Plus the people here might be able to fix your nanite control box, cure your sickness, and… oh, you know. This is where Frances is. Alice Dempsey’s sister. SHONA REID: I know they told you not to come, but Dad and I always handle communication with Dearg. I – I hope they’ll be pleased to see me. Least I can do after you saved Mor Island from the zoms. whirs, explosion JANINE DE LUCA: Laser fire incoming from a turret in the center of the island. The laser is set to intercept shambling zombies, so we should survive if we’re swift. Everyone, make for the center of the island. Run! whirs SHONA REID: So this is the famous Dearg science complex, huh? Doesn’t look much to me. It’s like a big university campus, just blocky buildings and stone paths. whirs SAM YAO: Is it just me, or are these laser strikes getting faster? And closer! That was right in front of me! JANINE DE LUCA: Evasive maneuvers! The laser is anticipating our movements. It must have been upgraded to target humans since Five’s last visit. And additional turrets are activating around the campus. Tom identified several possible entrance points on his visit with Five. There is a door in the obelisk-shaped building ahead. All of you, keep weaving as much as possible. Do not let the lasers map your path. Toward the obelisk. Run! whirs SHONA REID: Watch out, Five! That one almost got you. JANINE DE LUCA: This is the door. The concrete alcove affords us some cover. We must gain entry. Mr. Yao, your pack contains a small explosive - opens SAM YAO: Or the door could open by itself? JANINE DE LUCA: Inside, all of you, now! slams shut SAM YAO: Okay, so door mysteriously lets us in this long dark corridor, then slams behind us. Bit unsettling. feedback rings FRANCES DEMPSEY: Hello. It’s Frances. The door’s maintenance access for a waste disposal area. Low priority. I managed to override the lockdown long enough to let you in. You’re lucky I was on watch. The lasers would have killed you. God, it is you, isn’t it? Sam Yao. Alice talked about you in her letters. And Janine, you saved her life! And you’re the new Runner Five, still wearing her colors. SAM YAO: Janine, it’s Frances! It’s Alice’s sister, Shona. Alice was Runner Five before, um, before Runner Five was. SHONA REID: She died, this Alice? SAM YAO: Uh, yeah. A long time ago now, but um, we still remember her. Frances! It’s so good to meet you. Uh, hear you. Uh, where are you, exactly? FRANCES DEMPSEY: Watching you from a surveillance hut, trying to keep you alive. We did tell you not to come. I wanted to help you, Janine, after what you did for Alice, but there’s nothing more we can do. We cobbled together a stabilizer from our med lab. That’s all we can manage. You shouldn’t have come. No one here is allowed in or out. SHONA REID: Does that include the fellow over there? Look down the corridor. There’s a ladder under that vent. Someone’s slumped over it. SAM YAO: Uh, they’re right under a flickering light. Looks like they’re wearing a lab coat, or… oh, no. They’re, they’re just a skeleton. FRANCES DEMPSEY: Oh God, that’s Dr. Davis. He tried to escape the lockdown. He knew the doors in waste access would be easiest to open. JANINE DE LUCA: What happened to him? FRANCES DEMPSEY: He climbed down an air vent into the waste tunnel where scientists used to put failed experiments for disposal. Tunnel sensors detected an unauthorized organism and initiated a purge. SAM YAO: Failed experiments and lasers? It really does have that quintessential Van Ark scent. FRANCES DEMPSEY: Wait, you knew Van Ark? His name’s all over the labs, but I never met him. SAM YAO: Yeah, uh, we’ve had a few run-ins with - blares, liquid sprays Uh, Frances, there’s-there’s sort of greenish-yellow liquid pouring out of vents in the ceiling. FRANCES DEMPSEY: Crap! It’s sterilizing fluid. It’ll burn your flesh like bleach. That corridor’s going to flood. You have to get out of there. Make for the next bend in the corridor. You can tell me about Van Ark as you run! sprays, door opens and closes FRANCES DEMPSEY: Got it. Fire door sealed. That’ll keep the liquid back. Well, Alice’s diaries said being a runner was dangerous. I guess this is what she meant. JANINE DE LUCA: laughs Thank you, Miss Dempsey. FRANCES DEMPSEY: No problem. I’m feeling quite pleased with myself, actually. I just work in admin here. I’ve been trying to learn how to operate the systems, but I’ve never had to work that fast before. Alice was the speedy one. I was more slow and steady wins the race. That’s what mom said, anyway. Runner Five, Sam, it was you both who made sure I got Alice’s letters and diaries, wasn’t it? They arrived via Mor Island a little while after I got here. SAM YAO: Yeah, that was us, yeah. She always talked about how much she wanted to find you. She’d have come for you if she could. She’d have run the length of England. FRANCES DEMPSEY: She’s dead, though, right? You saw her die. SAM YAO: Yeah. I was her operator. She – wait. Do you – do you want to know what happened? FRANCES DEMPSEY: Not sure. I’ve been thinking about it since you came, Five. I’ve read those diaries over and over again. She’s so alive in them. There’s a part of me that feels like she’s still here. laughs I found out so many things about her from the diaries. She always seemed so confident. I never knew she doubted herself so much. Like that bit where she thinks Runner Eight hates her, you know? laughs SAM YAO: I, um, I didn’t read them. It would have felt wrong. FRANCES DEMPSEY; Oh. Yeah. I guess that makes sense. So you don’t know what she said about you? SAM YAO: Did she – she said something about me? FRANCES DEMPSEY: laughs Yeah, just a bit, mate. SAM YAO: laughs Oh. Okay, right. scurry SHONA REID: Guys, coming around the far end of the corridor, those look like little yellow cockroaches. FRANCES DEMPSEY: Oh God! They’re released after a purge to clean up biological waste. Insects engineered to eat flesh. The fluid killed Davis. Those stripped him to the bone. JANINE DE LUCA: There are hundreds of them crawling over the walls and floor. Everyone, down the stairwell. Run! scurry SAM YAO: Those things are closing in. They’re swarming all over the stairwell walls behind us. SHONA REID: Frances, if you could fetch the scientists, they might ken a way to stop them. FRANCES DEMPSEY: No, I can’t. JANINE DE LUCA: Miss Dempsey, we are not here to steal the secrets of the island. We need to talk to the scientists! FRANCES DEMPSEY: There are no scientists here! Okay, this is what I know. Van Ark set up this lab to research rumors of unnatural longevity in the Far Hebrides. Secured a billion-dollar grant from Valmont Venture Capital. When Z-Day happened, I just ran and ran, 17 and scared. Ended up around here looking for shelter. I was good with admin and great at learning rules and systems, so the scientists took me in. But they weren’t here for long. The Prime Minister Sigrid Hakkinen needed them all down in London a few years back. SAM YAO: Oh, right, those scientists Sigrid executed for not working fast enough. So there’s… there’s no one here who knows what the lab’s for. FRANCES DEMPSEY: All that’s left is me and half a dozen grad assistants. That’s why we can’t cure Janine. We don’t know how. And I can’t help you now. SHONA REID: Brilliant. We’re going to be eaten alive, and the lass is busy feeling sorry for herself. JANINE DE LUCA: We’ve explosives and weapons. Guns are likely to be of no use against a distributed enemy. C4 might stop them, but may simply collapse the ceiling on us. FRANCES DEMPSEY: Wait, I’ve got an idea! All of you, get down those stairs and then take the corridor. It’ll lead to an intersection under the flooded tunnel you were just in. I can’t think of anything else. You need to get a headstart on the bugs. Fast as you can, run! FRANCES DEMPSEY: All right, you’re approaching the intersection. You should see a ladder. One of you needs to climb it and plant your C4 near the ceiling. That’s it, Five. You race up there. rattles SAM YAO: So why are we blowing up the ceiling, exactly? FRANCES DEMPSEY: You’re right under the tunnel you were in earlier, which is now flooded with sterilizing fluid. If you blow it up, the fluid will wipe away the insects following you. SAM YAO: Oh wow, that’s brilliant! Alice would have been so proud of you. Look, I know there are rules or whatever, and you have to stay here and we have to leave, but we really need help. We’ve got the control box for Janine’s nanite infection with us. It’s broken, but there must be some way to fix it. Please! JANINE DE LUCA: My cure is secondary. A deadly fungus has infected the mainland. Dearg may hold crucial research on it. SHONA REID: Uh-oh, those beasties have caught up! FRANCES DEMPSEY: I – all right. If this works, I’ll direct you to our computer core. All our research is recorded there, anything that might help. Five, set the explosive, then jump down. You have to be clear when the ceiling collapses. There’s going to be burning bleach and flying debris. Straight down the corridor, run! explosion FRANCES DEMPSEY: It worked! The explosive cracked the ceiling. It’s crashing down! collapses That cleaning fluid is wiping clear the bugs, melting them. Keep moving down that ramp. JANINE DE LUCA: There’s a glass door into a steel-lined room at the end of the ramp. Inside, everyone. Five, seal the door behind us, quickly! slides shut SHONA REID: You’re swaying there, Janine. JANINE DE LUCA: First… water would be agreeable. SAM YAO: Paula said she’d be vulnerable to dehydration. Frances, we need water for Janine quickly! FRANCES DEMPSEY: I can’t. SAM YAO: Look, I know you’ve had to obey rules here. That’s how you’ve all survived. But things are different now! No one out there is still doing everything they’re told, Frances. Janine needs water. We have to find water for her now. FRANCES DEMPSEY: No, you can’t drink the water here. It’s contaminated. That’s the reason none of us can leave. It’s not rules, it’s infection. There’s something in the water and we’re all infected with it. And if we leave, we infect everyone else, too. You’re in an observation room. Look out the window. SAM YAO: Wow. This room’s overlooking a huge cavern. We must be way underground. Look at all those rocks and – oh. JANINE DE LUCA: The cavern is bursting with red fungus growing over every rock. SHONA REID: Oh my God. Red everywhere. FRANCES DEMPSEY: We think it’s one of the mad things the scientists here created. It got out of control, infected our water. We’ve been trying to contain it. All we know is that it’s dangerous. SAM YAO: Frances, that stuff, that’s why we’re here. That red fungus is what’s infected the mainland. It’s been found all along the coast. We don’t understand why, but we need to know how to stop it. FRANCES DEMPSEY: We’ll try to help you, Sam. If it came from here, we have to. But we’re not experts. We couldn’t cure ourselves. The whole of Dearg is riddled with red fungus, and so is everyone here, including me.Category:Mission Category:Season Eight